If you’ve followed our guide to planning a business or career, then you will have a list of industries you are interested in. But more importantly (if you’ve been honest with yourself) you’ll have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses.
You don’t have to have a four-year degree to become a successful businessperson. You just have to have the drive to succeed and the motivation to take a business course to start to learn the basics. Starting your own business might seem like it is way out of reach, but plenty of people who have gone from job to job, find themselves longing to be their own boss. The purchase of a franchise gives you that freedom, and the ability to start earning money that, if successful, you will find only grows year after year.
There are even business grants you can look into for single mothers to start their own small businesses. A grant is not a loan that needs to be paid back; instead, qualified individuals are given the funds they need to start their businesses— no strings attached. If you dream of becoming a business owner, don’t assume that your dream is impossible because you don’t have cash at the ready.
If you want to run a business but, upon further reflection, you realize you don’t have the experience or training, there are two ways you can still launch a successful business. First, undertake a business course that provides you with the foundational understanding you need. Second, purchase a franchise.
Franchise Opportunities Abound
Here are just some of the many examples of franchises available across industries.
Hospitality
- Fast Food Outlet
- Restaurant
- Food Van
- Home Delivery
Automotive
- Parts Store
- Mechanics
- Car Dealerships
- Delivery Services
Health & Beauty
- Fitness Centre
- Hairdressers
- Pharmacy
House & Garden
- Real Estate Agency
- Cleaning
- Yard Care & Lawn Mowing
- Painting
- Pet Grooming
- Dry Cleaners
Aged Care
- Home Care
- Mobility Devices
Children’s Services
- Kids Parties
- Swim Schools
- Tutoring
- Child Care
Franchises are sold by a parent company, which provides branding, marketing, administration, and business guidelines. All the work of planning and building a reputable name is done for you; you just need the funding and then know how to run it well.
McDonald’s and Dairy Queen are obvious franchise examples, but there’s basically a franchise available for whatever your interest. The industries are limited only by your imagination and desire, but there are many different types of franchises you can consider.
Be aware that the more popular franchises require quite a bit more money upfront to become a franchise owner. Starting with a smaller franchise is a good way to work yourself up to those more popular franchises. If you get in on the ground floor with a smaller franchise and it becomes successful, you will be able to ride that wave to even greater profitability for yourself.
Choosing to purchase a franchise comes with advantages. You are selecting a proven and consistent business model with, ideally, structured business mentoring and marketing plans. While there are two main franchise types—business format and product/trade name— our primary focus in these blogs is the former. The entire concept of the business is standardized and licensed to the purchaser (the franchisee). Business Format franchises can be broken down into either investment or location categories.
Level of Investment
One way to categorize franchises is based on the level of financial or management input on behalf of the purchaser (the franchisee), and who the product will be sold to.
- B2B: These franchises negotiate services or products directly to businesses without contact with the consumer.
- Management: This involves running a head office with a team that deals directly with consumers for you.
- Retail: In this instance, you would franchise for a specific product or brand. These are usually owner-operated retail outlets in high-profile areas.
- Investment: Franchises that are purchased purely for investment usually only require the owner to undertake management and advisory tasks. These require a significant outlay of money and a large team.
- Single Operator: These franchises require one person to provide services or products in a specific niche. This is a good option if you want to start small, have minimal overheads, and more flexibility.
Location of Your Choice
Business format franchises can also be categorized by the location you choose to work from: your home, the road, or a physical address.
Home-based business
With low overheads and literally all the convenience of home, home-based franchise opportunities are the most straightforward options especially if you have access to quality internet at home. From holiday planning and interior decorating to bookkeeping and accounting, there is a wide range of opportunities available.
However, you’ll need to be able to manage your time effectively and separate work time from family time if you are going to make a home-based business franchise work. Boundaries are key to your success.
Mobile business
Do you get itchy feet? Has the travel bug got you? Feel confined within the four walls of an office? If the honest appraisal of your strengths and weaknesses shows that you get bored easily and like being in the outdoors, then a mobile business might be more your style.
Food trucks, garden, and home maintenance, dog grooming— there’s a mobile business for everyone. Often, these franchises include equipment purchases and provide plenty of opportunities for return customers: it all comes down to your service. Marketing is important for mobile businesses because you don’t have a shop front for people to recognize or visit you: make sure the franchise will support you to create a strong presence.
‘Brick & Mortar’ business
A ‘brick and mortar’ business, or shop-front, involves any normal venue such as a restaurant, retail premises, or office. These have the advantage of catching walking traffic and rely less on marketing efforts than the other two categories.
However, outlay and ongoing overheads tend to be high in these franchises and the quality of your location is going to be crucial to your business success. Fitness centers, fast food outlets, fashion outlets, department or convenience stores, tax agents: there’s a franchise for everyone in this category.
Room for Expansion
Just because you are moving into a franchise, doesn’t mean your entrepreneurial spirit needs to be stifled. There are ways to expand your business and goals within the franchise model. When you become a franchisee there are a number of different methods you can use to purchase, and grow, your franchise business.
You can purchase a franchise at one location or many locations at once or over time. You can purchase an existing franchise with the hard work is already done for you. Other arrangements include becoming an area developer where you are responsible for opening multiple franchises within a particular geographic area or Master Franchise where you play the middleman between the parent company and franchises by managing a region.
How CCI Training Center Can Help
At CCI Training Center we are laser-focused on helping our students to achieve the careers of their dreams. In order to help them do this, we employ instructors with an extensive business background. Their real-life experience benefits our students immensely when they go out into the real world to start a business of their own.
Many of our students start their professional network right here at CCI Training Center. In the business world, no matter the type of business you are in, networking is a key component to success. Some students may already be in the franchise world and are coming to CCI Training Center to learn how to make their business more successful. The people you meet here will invariably help you along the road to your own business venture successes.
We realize that many of the people taking our courses have other jobs they cannot afford to quit while they work on opening up a franchise or business of their own. We have flexible schedules, and offer courses all year round. Typically you only have to come to the training center one or two days a week for class. Because our classes are offered all year round, you never have to wait long for the next class to start.
Many people start to look for a new career when they have a change in lifestyle. If you’ve gotten a divorce and now have to figure out how to financially support your family all on your own, it may look like opening up your own business is out of your reach. This simply could not be further from the truth. Our business classes can show you the way. Don’t let your fears and anxiety hold you back from your fullest potential.
For more information on developing your business skills to help you start a franchise business, fill out the contact form or download our ebook on our website. Embark on your dream to be a business owner today!
